Excited students
tour of the world

Students at The Ripley Academy took a trip around the world without leaving their classrooms as part of a day designed to broaden their global horizons.

Traditional lessons were put on hold while the students in Years seven to ten experienced a very different timetable which involved a range of multi-cultural activities as part of an enrichment day.

The programme focused on raising the cultural awareness of students as well as developing their understanding of either French or Spanish cuisine, music and cinema whilst also developing their language skills.

Students watched a film in a foreign language and reviewed it, tasted food from around the world, looked at world art, listened to world music and took part in a Hindu wedding workshop.

Nasreen Feroze from Derby Open Centre and ran the Hindu wedding workshop at the academy.

She said: “We talked about the differences between a Hindu wedding and a British wedding and how some of the elements of a British wedding have been incorporated into Hindu weddings like the rings.

“We’ve done some Henna tattoos as well as you would never see an Asian wedding without Henna. The children have loved it.”

Students Myah Phillips, 11, and Kyah Brown, 12, said they enjoyed the workshop.

Myah said: “We have been learning about how Hindu weddings compare to British weddings which has been really interesting. The Henna was really good.”

Kyah said: “It’s great to be learning new things about other cultures and very different to a normal day at school. It’s good fun and I think it encourages you to want to go out and learn more.”

Tasting food from across the world was also on the timetable and proved to be a popular activity.

Student Jessica Peach, 12, said: “We have been trying foods from different countries like Spain and France and then writing our opinion of it. I’ve never tried some of the food before. I liked the Camembert but I really didn’t like the pesto.”

Robin Pardo Roques, teacher at the academy, said all the students had enjoyed trying new food.

He said: “The students have tasted up to 30 different foods from around Europe. It gives them the opportunity to try things wouldn’t normally eat with the idea of broadening their horizons and encouraging them to try new things and want to travel.”

There was also a focus on improving students’ social and moral awareness in Years nine, ten and 11 and sixth formers acted as classroom assistants for the day.

Students investigated moral and social issues through Maths and English by looking at the world through statistics and they took part in team building exercises conducted by representatives from the RAF.

Birds of prey and owls visited the academy to develop students spiritual and moral understanding and they were asked to consider what should happen to people who mistreat birds and animals.

Peter Bradley, curriculum leader for Humanities said the day had been a great success.

He said: “The aim was to introduce students to a range of new experiences and improve their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness while broadening their horizons and raising their aspirations.”

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